1. Field of Invention
The present invention relates to improved tremolo assembly for an electric guitar which can replace a standard type tailpiece without modifying the structure of said guitar.
2. Description of Prior Art
Of most tremolo mechanisms for guitar, there are three types which can replace a standard tailpiece with little or no modification to the body of a guitar.
With reference to FIG. 2, the first is a stop-tail piece tremolo mechanism consisting of a standard stop-tailpiece with an attached tremolo arm which is assembled to a pivoting bar and a small spring (not shown) which is affixed between the base of the tremolo arm and the stop-tailpiece. The strings are attached to the pivoting bar. When the tremolo arm is pressed down, the distance between the fixing of the strings and the length of the guitar body shortens, producing a mild tremolo effect. A limitation of this type of tremolo mechanism is that the harmony will decrease by only one half-step at most.
With reference to FIG. 3, the second type of tremolo mechanism, which includes a combined bridge and tailpiece assembly, consists of a tailpiece block which is secured to the body portion of a guitar and an elongated tailpiece member rotatably connected at its ends with the tailpiece block for rotation in one direction about an axis eccentrically, horizontally and vertically offset from the longitudinal axis of the tailpiece member to provide cam action. Adjustable string attachment devices are connected with the tailpiece member for attachment to the ends of the guitar strings which, when tensioned, normally bias the tailpiece member in one direction of rotation. The tailpiece member is spring biased in the other direction of rotation to resist the rotating force exerted on the tailpiece member by the tensioned strings, and at least one lever is connected with the tailpiece member for rotating the same relative to the tailpiece block during sounding of the guitar to produce a tremolo effect.
A limitation becomes clear in this as the tailpiece member is pushed down with the attached tremolo arm, which provides a cam action relative to the tailpiece bock during rotation and the front edge (not shown) recedes below the tailpiece block which requires the routing of a space equal in length, width and thickness of said tailpiece member and attached springs (not shown) into the guitar body itself. Altering a guitar body to accommodate improvements in hardware may not be desirable if said guitar were valuable or a vintage collectable guitar. Making these necessary alterations may thus lessen the value of a guitar.
Another limitation is that many guitars with a standard style tailpiece vary in distance to the intonation bridge whose purpose is to set the height and most importantly the correct intonation of the strings, which thus makes this type of tremolo unsuitable for many guitars.
Yet another limitation of the above mentioned tremolo mechanisms are their use of springs to achieve a tremolo effect. These tremolo mechanisms depend on spring force to return a harmonized chord to its original position after the tremolo arm is pressed and released and are thus subject to variables such as quality, wear and changes in temperature.
With reference to FIG. 4, a third type of tremolo mechanism provides a tremolo effect for each string according to the variations in string diameter, the rate of elongation of the strings and their materials, and also according to the wishes of the player, to provide a tremolo mechanism that can give a harmonized chord, for instance by temporarily changing the tension in all strings stretched between the headstock and a body of a guitar. A member rotates around a shaft (not shown) when tremolo arm is pressed toward the guitar body. The shaft has its axis positioned transversely to the strings. The shaft is constructed so as to resiliently twist as member rotates. Member is provided with a portion against which the strings press. Portion is positioned between a bridge which supports each of the strings and a fixing part which attaches the end of each string to the front of the guitar body. Fixing part is connected to member and rotates along with it. Fixing part includes means, individual to each string, for changing the distance from the axis of the shaft to the point at which each string contacts portion. Consequently, as member is rotated, it is possible to change the tension in each of the strings.
A limitation of this tremolo mechanism is the required removal of both tailpiece, bridge and each respective stud. In addition, four separate holes have to be drilled into the guitar body to affix this tremolo mechanism to the guitar body with screws. Altering a guitar body to accommodate improvements in hardware may not be desirable if said guitar were valuable or a vintage collectable guitar.
Another limitation becomes apparent during installation, as the base of the assembly requires a flat surface, while many guitar tops have a contoured or oval surface.